Other animals eat each other. Why can’t we eat them?

Predators in the wild kill other animals out of necessity.

Without doing so, they would not survive. Humans kill other animals by choice. Our bodies have no need for meat at all. In fact, it has consistently been shown that a low-fat vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy with animal products. Is it acceptable to inflict suffering and death on countless animals for something that isn’t even necessary but simply a dietary preference?

Since domestic animals wouldn’t exist had we not brought them into existence don’t we have a right to use them?

No, even though we may have some responsibility for the animals that we have brought into existence that does not mean we have the right to use them as a resource.

If we used that reasoning then our children could be used as resources also. Although we have some authority over how are children are treated, there are limits. For instance we can’t enslave, kill them or sell their organs. We have as a cultural norm a moral obligation as parents to care for our children and not exploit them. So too do we have an obligation to look after animals that we have brought into existence, however the question that must be asked is whether we should be bringing them into existence in the first place.

It’s almost impossible to avoid using all animal products; if you’re still causing animal suffering without realizing it, what’s the point?

It may be impossible to live without causing some harm but that doesn’t mean that we should purposefully inflict harm when we can choose not to.

Being vegan is an attempt to live in a way that causes as little harm as possible. This means making conscious choices about how we live our lives and not being overwhelmed by what we can’t do; and instead concentrating on what we can.

Of course we should not be using animals for “frivolous” purposes, such as entertainment, but how can you expect people to give up eating meat?

This may seem like a reasonable question but again it shows the view that many people hold that we have the right to treat animals as commodities.

If it is not okay to treat animals as entertainment why is it okay to use them as food? Particularly if you consider that animal agriculture is the most significant source of animal suffering in the world today and there is absolutely no need for it. Animal agriculture has devastating environmental impacts, partly due to the amount of energy expended to keep the industry going. This energy could be better used to feed more of the world’s humans.

Regrettably for those who like to eat meat, this is no argument, and a taste for meat in no way justifies the violation of a moral principle. Our conduct merely demonstrates that despite what we say about the moral significance of animal interests, we are willing to ignore those interests whenever we benefit from doing so–even when the benefit is nothing more than our pleasure or convenience.